Wicked Love - Michelle Dare Page 0,286

You have a bunch of humans just sitting around your house waiting for you to drop a fang?” The moment the words slipped from my lips, I wanted to take them back. Zack Wylde wasn’t my enemy, but if I didn’t watch myself, I could easily become his.

Long, masculine fingers drummed against the top of his desk. “Is it me, or is it all vampires you have a problem with?”

“You are aware that Lenora Moreau killed my partner, aren’t you?” I snapped back at him.

His lip curled. “Yes, I heard about that. I’m sorry for your loss. If you don’t mind my asking, what exactly did Lenora do?”

My brow shot up. He knew full well what she did. “Didn’t you read your literature?”

He smiled. “I seem to have skipped that chapter. Please, humor me.”

I leaned forward and stabbed him with an icy glare. “The bitch used a little girl to lure three cops into a dark alleyway. It was the perfect ruse. After all, who would suspect a child vampire? She tranced my partner and the other cop—with her voice. I managed to stop Mick from going after her but couldn’t reach the other cop. It was a trap. Lenora was on the ground, pretending to be hurt, while the little girl hid behind the dumpsters. The officer, who was down on one knee beside Lenora, wasn’t moving. The little vamp had him tranced, this time with her stare. Lenora somehow got inside my head. It was ten shades of fucked up. By the time I managed to get rid of her, it was too late.” My words faded to silence. The rest hurt to remember. Swallowing back the pain, I said, “We should never have been in that alley. I did everything wrong, and because of me, my partner is now dead.” His look of sympathy gutted me, and I had to glance away.

“No, Diana, your partner died because of Lenora, not you.”

My eyes snapped back to his. “You’re right. So tell me, as head of the SVO, why in the hell is she still alive? Why are you allowing her to turn children into vampires and terrorize innocent people? Why in the hell aren’t you stopping her?”

His jaw tensed. Evidently, Mr. Wylde didn’t like to be questioned. Well, tough shit because I wanted answers. “We’re working on it,” he clipped in a terse, uncompromising tone.

Not hard enough. I could tell from his stiff posture he was done. “Well, fair warning, if I ever see the bitch again, I’m ashing her ass.”

A moment passed before he responded. “Your warning is duly noted. Can I make a suggestion, though?”

“Knock yourself out.”

“As you pointed out, I’m head of the SVO. I hold this position for a reason; because no one else can take it from me. Do you understand what that means?” Before I could respond, he said, “Only one person has come close to taking it from me, and that is Lenora Moreau. You may be a good cop, Miss Duvail, but your humanity is a weakness. Lenora is a morally corrupt vampire who does not believe that societal rules apply to her. She will do everything in her power to exploit that weakness. My advice is to tread carefully.”

I threw his words back at him. “Your warning is duly noted,” and then asked, “So, about tonight, what would you like me to do?”

“I would like for you to question Anya and Naya—to try to get them to open up to you, and hopefully gain some insight as to what happened the night Tamara went missing.”

“Can’t you just compel them to talk?” His eyes flashed red. It was a scary, pissed-off-monster red—a glaring indicator that I’d hit at least a dozen nerves. Fear rattled inside my chest as I sucked in a shaky breath. Way to piss off the vampire, Diana.

Right as I thought he was about to sprout fangs and go for my neck, he said, “Your insolence is tiring. Let me ask you a question. Do you pull your gun on your friends, or better yet, your family? Do you press the barrel to their heads and threaten them when they don’t do what you ask?”

Shit, he had a point. “I’m sorry. I’m a smart-ass. It’s a defense mechanism. My parents tried to beat it out of me; then they tried to shrink it out of me. It’s kind of ingrained. I’ll try to tone it down when I’m around you. That’s a big ask, by the way,